Abraaj Group Art Prize Announces 2016 Winning Artists

The Abraaj Group Art Prize announced today that this year’s winning artists are Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme. The duo, who hail from Ramallah in the West Bank, will receive $100,000 from the Abraaj Group, a private equity manager that has become known for its work in Middle Eastern markets.

Given annually to artists from the Middle East, South Asia, and North Africa, the Abraaj Group Art Prize also announced three shortlisted artists—Dina Danish, Basir Mahmood, and Mahmoud Khaled. The shortlisted artists will receive $10,000 each.

The winning artists will now begin preparing work for this year’s edition of Art Dubai, which opens on March 16. There, Nav Haq will curate an exhibition of the artists’ work. In a statement, Haq called the shortlisted artists “excellent and highly thoughtful,” and Abbas and Abou-Rahme “significant.”